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LIS417: NLM Classification and MeSH
1. National Library of Medicine Classification
and Medical Subject Headings (MeSH)
Joshua A. Parker
4 December 2007
LIS417: Subject Cataloging & Classification (Joudrey)
Graduate School of Library & Information Science
Simmons College • Boston, MA
2. NLM Classification & Medical Subject Headings (MeSH)
The National Library of Medicine
National medical library of the United States
1836: Library of the Surgeon General's Office
1922: Army Medical Library
1956: National Library of Medicine
Largest medical collection in the world
Developed and maintains the NLM Classification
and Medical Subject Headings (MeSH)
MEDLINE, PubMed, and PubMed Central
UMLS (Unified Medical Language System)
Maintains several databases of genetic information
Produces advanced bioinformatics research tools
Joshua A. Parker • LIS417: Subject Cataloging & Classification (Joudrey) • Simmons College GSLIS • 4 December 2007
3. NLM Classification & Medical Subject Headings (MeSH)
Development & History of NLMC & MeSH
1944: Need for a new specialized medical
classification system recognized
1948: Preliminary edition of the Army Medical
Library Classification published
1951: First edition of Army Medical Library
Classification published
1954: Subject Heading Authority List published
1960: First edition of MeSH published
Present: NLMC & MeSH updated annually and are
freely available for download at www.nlm.nih.gov
Joshua A. Parker • LIS417: Subject Cataloging & Classification (Joudrey) • Simmons College GSLIS • 4 December 2007
4. NLM Classification & Medical Subject Headings (MeSH)
NLMC: Basic Structure, Strengths, & Weaknesses
Basic Structure
Covers preclinical as well as medical sciences
35 main classes
Supplemental 19th Century Schedule
Strengths
Well-suited for most contemporary medical collections
Simple, highly enumerative structure; easy to apply
Accommodates the use of LCC for non-medical works
Problem Areas
Alternative and non-Western medicine
Public Health/Social Medicine
Not analytico-synthetic; limited descriptive potential
Joshua A. Parker • LIS417: Subject Cataloging & Classification (Joudrey) • Simmons College GSLIS • 4 December 2007
5. NLM Classification & Medical Subject Headings (MeSH)
NLM Classification: Main Classes
QS Human Anatomy WI Digestive System
QT Physiology WJ Urogenital System
QU Biochemistry WK Endocrine System
QV Pharmacology WL Nervous System
QW Microbiology and Immunology WM Psychiatry
QX Parasitology WN Radiology. Diagnostic Imaging
QY Clinical Pathology WO Surgery
QZ Pathology WP Gynecology
WQ Obstetrics
W Health Professions WR Dermatology
WA Public Health WS Pediatrics
WB Practice of Medicine WT Geriatrics. Chronic Disease
WC Communicable Diseases WU Dentistry. Oral Surgery
WD Disorders of Systemic, Metabolic or WV Otolaryngology
Environmental Origin, etc. WW Ophthalmology
WE Musculoskeletal System WX Hospitals and Other Health Facilities
WF Respiratory System WY Nursing
WG Cardiovascular System WZ History of Medicine
WH Hemic and Lymphatic Systems 19th Century Schedule
Joshua A. Parker • LIS417: Subject Cataloging & Classification (Joudrey) • Simmons College GSLIS • 4 December 2007
6. NLM Classification & Medical Subject Headings (MeSH)
NMLC: Notation
Structure:
Main Class indicated by letters
Subordinate classes by ordinal numbers
Cutters; special geographic codes (Table G)
The annual report of the Boston Lying-in Hospital for 1947
WX 2 Hospitals, etc. + Serial Hospital Reports
.AM4 Massachusetts (from Table G)
B7L6a Cutter for author + work mark
1947 Year of publication
Arrangement
Division between preclinical & clinical topics
Rough attempt to express structural relationships
Joshua A. Parker • LIS417: Subject Cataloging & Classification (Joudrey) • Simmons College GSLIS • 4 December 2007
7. NLM Classification & Medical Subject Headings (MeSH)
NMLC: Comparison to DDC & LCC
Notation modeled on LCC
Schedules very highly enumerative, the only
supplementary schedule (sometimes) applied
is Table G.
Less structured than DDC; does not strongly
express relationships among classes
Some mnemonic use of numbers as in DDC
QX 18.2 Parasitology. Educational materials
WI 18.2 Digestive System. Educational materials
WN 18.2 Radiology. Educational materials
WZ 18.2 History of Medicine. Educational materials
Joshua A. Parker • LIS417: Subject Cataloging & Classification (Joudrey) • Simmons College GSLIS • 4 December 2007
8. NLM Classification & Medical Subject Headings (MeSH)
MeSH: Basic Structure & Strengths
Structure
Poly-hierarchical
• The entry for each term fully describes the location of
the term using both visual trees and notation
Syndetic Structure
• See Also/See Related, XR references
• Entry Term/X (Used For references)
• Consider Also references
Strengths
Allows for several approaches to any single term
Scope notes and annotations for every term and
qualifier (subheading)
Used for both monographic literature and indexing
papers published in journals
Joshua A. Parker • LIS417: Subject Cataloging & Classification (Joudrey) • Simmons College GSLIS • 4 December 2007
9. NLM Classification & Medical Subject Headings (MeSH)
MeSH Structure Example: Alzheimer Disease
DISEASES PSYCHIATRY & PSYCHOLOGY
Nervous System
Diseases Mental Disorders
Central Nervous
System Diseases Delirium, Dementia,
Neurodegenerative Amnestic, Cognitive
Diseases Disorders
Brain Diseases
Tauopathies Dementia
Alzheimer Disease
Joshua A. Parker • LIS417: Subject Cataloging & Classification (Joudrey) • Simmons College GSLIS • 4 December 2007
11. NLM Classification & Medical Subject Headings (MeSH)
MeSH: Characteristics of the Vocabulary
Extremely specific and exhaustive for medical and
medically-related topics
Vocabulary designed to treat each term consistently
in comparison to other parallel terms
Limited subject field helps maintain internal
coherence
Particularly powerful when used with NLM's
MEDLINE/PubMed, allowing for the construction of
very focused searches
Joshua A. Parker • LIS417: Subject Cataloging & Classification (Joudrey) • Simmons College GSLIS • 4 December 2007
12. NLM Classification & Medical Subject Headings (MeSH)
MeSH: Facilities for Coordination
Use of Qualifiers
Each qualifier has a note detailing its use
parasitology (A, B1, B2, B6, C, E7, F3, J2) PS, parasitol
Used with animals, higher plants, organs, and diseases for parasitic factors. In
diseases, it is not used if the parasitic involvement is implicit in the diagnosis.
The description of each MeSH term includes a list of
allowable qualifiers
Application of multiple terms
245 00 ‡a Salivary electrostimulation in Sjogren's syndrome.
650 _2 ‡a Xerostomia ‡x therapy.
650 _2 ‡a Xerostomia ‡x etiology.
650 _2 ‡a Sjogren's Syndrome ‡x complications.
650 _2 ‡a Salivary Glands ‡x secretion.
650 _2 ‡a Electric Stimulation Therapy.
Joshua A. Parker • LIS417: Subject Cataloging & Classification (Joudrey) • Simmons College GSLIS • 4 December 2007
13. NLM Classification & Medical Subject Headings (MeSH)
MeSH: Comparison to LCSH
MeSH designed for a specific set of
disciplines (medical sciences; associated
basic and social sciences; health
administration, etc.)
Permits much more specific description for these
fields
LCSH may also be required to adequately
describe non-medical works
MeSH documentation much more clear and
exhaustive than that provided for LCSH
Joshua A. Parker • LIS417: Subject Cataloging & Classification (Joudrey) • Simmons College GSLIS • 4 December 2007
14. NLM Classification & Medical Subject Headings (MeSH)
Current Use of NLM Classification & MeSH
National Library of Medicine
Maintains NLMC and MeSH
Other Medical Libraries
Academic
Hospital
MEDLINE/PubMed
http://www.pubmed.gov/
Powerful tool for using MeSH to search
biomedical literature
Joshua A. Parker • LIS417: Subject Cataloging & Classification (Joudrey) • Simmons College GSLIS • 4 December 2007
15. NLM Classification & Medical Subject Headings (MeSH)
Bibliography [1]
Army Medical Library. Classification: Medicine. Preclinical Sciences, QS-QZ.
Medicine and Related Subjects, W. 1st ed. Washington: U.S. Govt. Print.
Off., 1951.
———. Classification: Medicine. Preclinical Sciences, QS-QZ. Medicine and
Related Subjects, W. Prelim., 1948 ed. Washington: U.S. Govt. Print. Off.,
1949.
Coletti, M. H. and H. L. Bleich. quot;Medical Subject Headings used to Search the
Biomedical Literature.quot; Journal of the American Medical Informatics
Association: JAMIA 8, no. 4 (Jul-Aug, 2001): 317-323 (accessed November
17, 2007).
Cunningham, Eileen R., Eleanor G. Steinke, and Mary Louise Gladish.
Classification for Medical Literature. 5th ed. Nashville: Vanderbilt University
Press, 1967.
Gault, L. V., M. Shultz, and K. J. Davies. quot;Variations in Medical Subject
Headings (MeSH) Mapping: From the Natural Language of Patron Terms to
the Controlled Vocabulary of Mapped Lists.quot; Journal of the Medical Library
Association: JMLA 90, no. 2 (Apr, 2002): 173-180 (accessed October 6,
2007).
Joshua A. Parker • LIS417: Subject Cataloging & Classification (Joudrey) • Simmons College GSLIS • 4 December 2007
16. NLM Classification & Medical Subject Headings (MeSH)
Bibliography [2]
Hallett, K. S. quot;Separate but Equal? A System Comparison Study of MEDLINE's
Controlled Vocabulary MeSH.quot; Bulletin of the Medical Library Association
86, no. 4 (Oct, 1998): 491-495 (accessed November 17, 2007).
Hjørland, Birger. quot;Medical Subject Headings (MeSH), Lifeboat for Knowledge
Organization. http://www.db.dk/bh/Lifeboat_KO/SPECIFIC%20DOMAINS/
medical_subject_headings.htm (accessed November 17, 2007).
Jenuwine, E. S. and J. A. Floyd. quot;Comparison of Medical Subject Headings and
Text-Word Searches in MEDLINE to Retrieve Studies on Sleep in Healthy
Individuals.quot; Journal of the Medical Library Association: JMLA 92, no. 3 (Jul,
2004): 349-353 (accessed November 17, 2007).
Lindberg, Donald A. B. and Robert Mehnert. quot;National Library of Medicine.quot; In
Encyclopedia of Library and Information Science, edited by Miriam A.
Drake. 2nd ed., 2013-2022. New York: Marcel Dekker, 2003 (accessed
October 6, 2007).
Lipscomb, Carolyn E. quot;Medical Subject Headings (MeSH).quot; Bulletin of the
Medical Library Association 88, no. 3 (2000): 265-266 (accessed October 6,
2007).
Joshua A. Parker • LIS417: Subject Cataloging & Classification (Joudrey) • Simmons College GSLIS • 4 December 2007
17. NLM Classification & Medical Subject Headings (MeSH)
Bibliography [3]
Lowe, H. J. and G. O. Barnett. quot;Understanding and using the Medical Subject
Headings (MeSH) Vocabulary to Perform Literature Searches.quot; JAMA: The
Journal of the American Medical Association 271, no. 14 (Apr 13, 1994):
1103-1108 (accessed November 17, 2007).
Muench, Eugene V. Biomedical Subject Headings :A Reconciliation of National
Library of Medicine (MeSH) and Library of Congress Subject Headings. 2nd
ed. Hamden, Conn.: Shoe String Press, 1979.
National Library of Medicine. quot;Medical Subject Headings.quot;
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/ (accessed November 17, 2007).
———. quot;NLM Classification 2007.quot; http://www.nlm.nih.gov/class/ (accessed
November 17, 2007).
———. Medical Subject Headings: Annotated Alphabetic List. Springfield, Va.:
National Technical Information Service, distributor, 2003.
———. National Library of Medicine Classification: A Scheme for the Shelf
Arrangement of Library Materials in the Field of Medicine and its Related
Sciences. NIH Publication. 5th , rev ed. Bethesda, Md.; Washington, DC:
U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, National
Institutes of Health, National Library of Medicine, 1999.
Joshua A. Parker • LIS417: Subject Cataloging & Classification (Joudrey) • Simmons College GSLIS • 4 December 2007
18. NLM Classification & Medical Subject Headings (MeSH)
Bibliography [4]
———. Medical Subject Headings. Bethesda, Md.: U.S. Dept. of Health and
Human Services, Public Health Service, National Institutes of Health,
National Library of Medicine, 1960.
Olson, Tony and Gary Strawn. quot;Mapping the LCSH and MeSH Systems.quot;
Information Technology and Libraries 16, no. 1 (1997): 5-19 (accessed
November 17, 2007).
O'Rourke, Alan J., Andrew Booth, and Nigel Ford. quot;Another Fine MeSH:
Clinical Medicine Meets Information Science.quot; Journal of Information
Science 25, no. 4 (1999): 275-281 (accessed November 17, 2007).
Wineburgh-Freed, Maggie and Norris Medical Library. Medical Subject
Headings (MeSH) and NLM Classification for Catalogers: A Syllabus. 2nd
ed. Los Angeles, CA: Norris Medical Library, University of Southern
California, 1997.
Womack, Kristina R. quot;Conformity for Conformity's Sake? the Choice of a
Classification System and a Subject Heading System in Academic Health
Sciences Libraries.quot; Cataloging & Classification Quarterly 42, no. 1 (2006):
93-115 (accessed October 6, 2007).
Joshua A. Parker • LIS417: Subject Cataloging & Classification (Joudrey) • Simmons College GSLIS • 4 December 2007